18 Candles
by Little-Miss-Crayola
Summary: MySims Fanfic. Delainey Lockhart, a now 18 year old Essence user, wishes she could fall in love for the first time. Along the way, she and her friends remember how they first met. Some drama, speculation and slight out-of-character moments.
1. Birthday Surprise

"So...a Mirror with 9 Rose essences and 9 Lavender essences...got it, Aunt Nicole." Delainey repeated as she wrote down in her task book.

"Delainey, have I ever told you that you're my favorite little niece?" Nicole asked.

"...Aunt Nicole, I'm your only niece." Delainey said dryly. You could tell she was having a rough day. It was her 18th Birthday and not a single person, in a town of around 100, seemed to care.

Delainey trudged home, the sound of her feet pounding against the cold, hard cement being the only sound she heard. She stopped at the door and slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door, and was shocked at her close friends and family shouting 'SURPRISE!'

"You guys remembered!" Delainey cried.

Her mother, Shirley, came up to her and hugged her. "Of course we remembered, hon! Why do you think we'd forget your special day?" She asked.

"Everyone's been asking for a lot from me. It's wearing me down." Delainey said.

"I have something to help you with that, Delainey." One of Delainey's guy friends, Travis, said.

"What is it?" Delainey asked.

"Come with me." Travis said, then offered his hand to lead her to her room.

Delainey looked to see a bed. She smiled and layed down on the bed.

"Wow, it's so comfy!" She chirped.

"That's good, I...I mean we, were searching all over for that mattress for atleast a week." Travis said.

"You shouldn't have gone to all the trouble." Delainey said.

"You deserve it, Delainey. You work so hard to make everyone happy." Travis said.

Delainey smiled and hugged Travis.

Buddy came in the room. "...Mind making it a group hug?" Buddy asked, twiddling his fingers.

Delainey hugged him too. Buddy smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Happy Birthday, pal." He said.

Travis rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, that's enough of that for now, let's get back to the party." He said, going back into the living room.


	2. Present Time

Delainey grabbed Buddy's hand and dragged him out of the room with surprising ease. "Delainey, please let goooooo!" Buddy whined. "I will when we get in there." Delainey said, still tugging. She let go of him when they got into the room, and Buddy sat down.

Delainey found her cousin Derek sitting in a corner, keeping surprisingly quiet. "Hey Derek, you can have the first slice of cake, if you want." Delainey said with a smile. "Really?" Derek asked. Delainey nodded. Derek hugged his little cousin. "Happy Birthday, cuz." He said, smiling a little. "Thanks." Delainey said.

"Time for cake!" Shirley said, lighting the 18 Birthday candles. Everybody sang Delainey 'Happy Birthday' and she made her wish, to fall in love for the first time.

"Open my present first!" Poppy squealed happily. "Sis, calm down." Said Poppy's older sister, Violet. Delainey opened the box and inside was a plush flower-print blanket. "It's so soft, thank you!" Delainey said. "This one's from me." Violet said, handing her a small box. There was a dream-catcher in it. "...To keep the demons away." She said.

"Mine next!" Shouted Annie Radd, running to get her present, a Guitar. Delainey's eyes opened wide. "Wow, cool!" She said, trying to play it.

Ginny gave her a ship in a bottle, Candy gave her a stereo, her cousin Eliza gave her a necklace, as did Eliza's boyfriend, Jim Rural. Buddy's present was the last.

"I made it special for ya, bud." Buddy said, handing over a package. Delainey tore into it, and there was a book inside. A book with dozens of photos of her and Buddy, and all of their friends, pictures that they drew when they were little, and some sketches Buddy drew of her. Delainey started smiling, and crying tears of joy. She hugged Buddy. "It's so sweet! I Love it!" She sniffled.

Travis crossed his arms and looked away. I spend weeks building that thing, getting splinters and bleeding fingers, and she loves his present more. GREAT! Travis thought. "Travis, are you okay?" Delainey asked. "I'm fine." He huffed. "No you aren't." Delainey said. "I worked really hard making your present." Travis said. "That's all?" Delainey asked. Travis showed her his bandaged hands. "...Oh. Well, you made a bed, so I'll always go to be thinking of you." Delainey said. Travis smiled. Delainey kissed his cheek then went for another slice of cake. 


	3. Best Pals Forever

Later, everybody left, save for Buddy and Travis. Buddy was just sitting on the couch, while Travis was randomly laying on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

"... Well. I should head out for the night. Happy Birthday, Delainey." Travis said, standing up and walking across the street to his home.

"I should probably go too, Delainey. It's supposed to be really busy at the hotel this week." Buddy said.

"You don't even have a room there, Buddy!" Delainey said.

"I arrange the chairs in the waiting room so I can use it as a bed. It's actually pretty comfortable." Buddy replied.

"C'mon Buddy, please? The couch pulls out into a bed, and it's really dark out." Delainey said.

"You just sent Travis out into the dark." Buddy said.

"He lives across the street, a straight line from my house. The hotel is further away. Please?" Delainey asked.

"Alright, alright." Buddy said.

"Oh, thank you!" Delainey said, hugging him then getting the bed ready.

After getting the bed made, Delainey sat down to look through the scrapbook. She smiled at a picture of her and Buddy when they were 8 years old. Buddy was missing a few teeth and had bandages on his chin, cheek and nose. Delainey's hair was long, curly and red, instead of her now short pink crop.

"I remember this!" Delainey said. "When you, Travis, Chaz and Derek got in a fight."

"And I lost." Buddy said.

"You didn't lose." Delainey said.

"What even happened?" Buddy asked.

Flashback 

_I was in the park with my mom and Derek, and one of Derek's friends at the time, Chaz, came over and stole my doll. He was holding it over my head, taunting me. _

"Hah, you gotta jump for it! Jump for dolly!" Chaz chuckled.

"Give it back!" Delainey shouted, reaching up for her doll.

_Derek was holding me back from getting the doll and Travis was there too. He was just laughing._

"Give it back, please! Please!" Delainey shouting, nearly crying.

_After a few minutes, you came by. You were wearing a Superhero cape._

"Hey, you leave that girl alone! Give her back her doll!" Buddy demanded.

_And then...?_

"Don't tell me what to do, chump!" Chaz shouted, pushing Buddy.

"Don't push me, jerk!" Buddy said, tackling Chaz.

_Derek let go of me, and gave me my doll back. Then Chaz pushed me, and Derek went ballistic on him._

"Don't you EVER hurt my cousin!" Derek shouted, punching Chaz.

_Then Travis tackled you, you punched him, then he ran away to his mom and dad, crying. Chaz ran away, to get away from Derek. Then me, you and Derek went over to find my mom, and she cleaned up our cuts and bruises._

End Flashback

"Then we talked and played in the sandbox, and now we're best friends." Delainey finished, with a smile.

Buddy smiled. "Now I remember." He said.


	4. My Old Friend Jimmy

Delainey flipped through the pages and looked through the pictures. One picture had her, Buddy and his cousin Agnes. She laughed a little at the photostrip. It was a group of photo's they had taken in a photobooth. They were all making silly faces. "Agnes. She was so silly." Delainey said. "Yeah..." Buddy said. "Well, good night, Buddy." Delainey said, walking to her room. "Night, pal..." Buddy yawned, going to sleep.

Delainey got up at the crack of dawn as usual, and went to wake up Buddy. "Wake up, Buddy." Delainey said, gently shaking Buddy's shoulder. "I'm up, I'm up!" Buddy said, springing out of bed, getting his hat, and clumsily getting his shoes on, falling a couple times before he got to the door. "Thanks a bunch, Delainey!" Buddy shouted. "No problem, Buddy!" Delainey shouted back.

Delainey went about her usual daily routine. Take a quick shower, get dressed, go out and say good morning to anyone else who happened to be out early in the morning, water the plants, and pop in to give her mom a visit.

Somewhere in the middle of the day, one of Delainey's friends, Jimmy Watanabe, picked her up and gave her a ride on his shoulders. Delainey laughed. "Thanks for the lift, Jimmy!" She said. "No problem, Lainey! Hey, I was wondering, maybe you wanna take a ride on the motorcycle later today?" Jimmy asked. "Maybe tomorrow, Jimmy. Me, Rhonda and Annie are going to DJ Candy's club later." Delainey said, playing with Jimmy's hair. "Aww, you go there all the time!" Jimmy complained. "What's so great about Candy's place, anyway?" He asked. "The music, the dancing...and the sushi." Delainey said. Jimmy gasped. "The 'S' word! Delainey, you know how I feel about the 'S' word!" He said. "And you know how I feel about hairspray." Delainey said, trying to flatten down Jimmy's spikes.

"True... I always thought it was weird how your allergic to hairspray and you like fish, and how I'm allergic to fish and like hairspray." Jimmy said. Delainey laughed. "I never noticed that before! How weird!" She said. "I know." Jimmy said, sitting down. Delainey lied down in the grass. "Hey Jimmy, do you remember how we met? Because I don't even remember." She asked.

Flashback

_It was a while ago when me and my dad had just moved in. You were five, I think._

"Welcome to the neighborhood, hon's!" Shirley said. "I'm Shirley Lockhart, I run the Salon down the is my daughter Delainey." Shirley said, pushing five year old Delainey in front of her.

Hisao, Jimmy's dad, bowed respectfully. "I am Chef Hisao Watanabe. This is my son, James." Hisao said, gesturing to seven year old Jimmy.

_You're mom invited us over for dinner, after squealing about how cute I was, supposedly. _

"Aww, he's a little cutie!" Shirley said, pinching Jimmy's cheeks. Jimmy wasn't amused. "I'm making Salmon tonight, would you like to come over? I have enough for atleast five!" Shirley said.

"I would be delighted." Hisao said, walking toward his new home.

_My allergy wasn't as bad but fish still made me sneeze a lot._

"Achooo!" Jimmy sneezed all over his fish. "...I've lost my appetite..." Jimmy sniffed, pushing his plate toward Delainey.

"GROSS! I don't want your booger fish!" Delainey whined.

End Flashback

"After that we got into a fight that, all I remember, turned into me pulling your hair, Dad scolding me, and me hating you until you were seven." Jimmy explained. "Why until I was seven?" Delainey asked. "Up until then, you were kind of a brat." Jimmy said. "Oh..." Delainey said. "You're cool now, though." Jimmy said with a grin, noogying Delainey. "Hey!" Delainey laughed.

They collapsed in the grass together.


	5. That's How It Is

Delainey looked at the clouds. "I always thought it would be cool to fly, what about you, Jimmy?" She asked.

Jimmy shook his head. "Not really."

"Why?" Delainey asked.

"I'm afraid of flying." Jimmy said.

"Ah." Delainey said, standing up.

"Help me up?" Jimmy asked, holding up an arm.

"Fine..." Delainey said, pulling him up, struggling a little. Jimmy wasn't heavy, but a lot bigger and taller than little Delainey.

"Thanks." Jimmy said, after standing up. "So miss Delainey, do you have any plans this fine afternoon?"

"Bringing Buddy his lunch." Delainey said, holding up a brown paper bag. It was always Delainey did for Buddy, bring him a Roast Beef sandwich that her mom made.

"Ah. Mind me coming with ya? I haven't talked to Buddy in a while." Jimmy asked.

"Sure, you can come." Delainey said, and started walking.

They passed by Goth Boy writing some poetry under a Black Rose Tree. Jimmy whispered to Delainey, "Who's that? I don't think I've seen him around town before..."

"That's Herman Brooder."

"GIBBY? From our history class? He's GOTH now?" Jimmy asked.

Goth boy looked up from his book then slumped back down awkwardly, looking his work over again.

Delainey shushed Jimmy. "Yeah, he goes by 'Goth Boy' now..." She said, pushing through the revolving door of the hotel Buddy worked at.

Delainey went over and hugged Buddy. "You're Roast Beef sandwich, Mr. Nelson." Delainey said, handing over the paper bag.

"Yum, I've been looking forward to this all week! Thanks, Delainey!" Buddy said, kissing Delainey on the cheek.

"Ah, so THAT'S how it is." Jimmy said.

"Excuse me?" Buddy asked.

"Nothin', nothin'." Jimmy waved it off with a slight smirk.

"Jimmy, stop it!" Delainey muttered.

"Sorry. Didn't mean that. Just joking." Jimmy said. "Anyway, how are ya, Buddy? Haven't heard from you in a while." He asked.

"Yeah, I know, not since High School." Buddy said. "...I've been working here for a while. Trying to raise enough money to find a decent manager. Mayor Rosalyn's been worried about having me running the place. Can't say I blame her, though. I'm not the brightest tool in the shed." Buddy explained.

"...You mean brightest _bulb_?" Jimmy asked.

"Dangit... Y'see?" Buddy exclaimed.

"Sorry. Well, I'm gonna head back to the shop, Dad's probably wondering where that order of fish is." Jimmy said, running off.

"Take luck!" Buddy said, waving.

"Wear gloves!" Delainey added. "I'm gonna go to, Buddy. Enjoy your lunch!" Delainey said, kissing Buddy on the cheek then taking off.


	6. Secret

Upon running out of the hotel, Delainey ran into Travis. "Oh, sorry Travis, I wasn't watching where I was going... again." She apologized. "Eh, don't worry about it. I'm used to it. You were always totally clumsy. That's how we met." Travis said. "...Really? I don't remember that..." Delainey said. "Yeah, it was at school and we were probably ten or so."

Start Flashback

_It was probably a month after I stopped hanging around Chaz and was kind of on my own. I saw you being crowded around by some of the mean girls in school._

"Those glasses are dumb. Where did you get them, the prank store?" Esma asked with a hardly laugh.

"I...i'm nearsighted. I can't see very good without these glasses..." Delainey said, meekly.

_Then Esma took your glasses and tried to make you jump for them. You almost got them when she tossed them to the other girl, Brandi. The glasses fell to the ground and almost broke. You tried to feel around for them, while the girls ran off, laughing._

"Hey, are you okay?" Travis asked Delainey, picking up her glasses and putting them on her.

"Oh, uhh...I'm fine." Delainey said.

"You sure? You seem a little shaky." Travis said.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Delainey said.

"Well, alright then. I'm Travis, nice to meet you." He said, putting a hand out to help her up.

"Delainey." Delainey said, pulling herself up.

End Flashback

"So, that's how we met. After that, we started talking for a while. We had a lot in common, but I guess that was just then..." Travis said. "What do you mean?" Delainey asked. "Delainey, you're so sweet, I can't lie to you like this." "What are you trying to say...?" Delainey asked. "I'm not really a CEO, I never had money, my family isn't rich. My dad works as a carpenter and my mom stays at home." Travis explained.

Delainey paused. "Well?" Travis asked. "I knew that already, Travis." Delainey said. "What?" He asked. "I met your mom last month when she came to mom's shop for a haircut, she told her all about you." Delainey said. "...Oh." Travis said. "Well, I'm glad I got that off my conscience, anyway." He chuckled. "Yeah, it's not good to keep things bottled up." Delainey said. "Well, anyway, I gotta get going, I have some things to build." She said, walking toward her workshop. "Alright, let me know if you need a hand." Travis said. "Will do!" She said, going into her workshop.

She built the furniture in the exact opposite of the way her tasks were given. A refrigerator, a jukebox and a bathtub. Then she made a bed as a surprise for Buddy. "Oh, I hope he likes it. I know he's been needing one..." Delainey said, pulling the bed behind her with difficulty. "Need any help?" Asked Vic Vector, a man in his mid-thirties who worked an arcade down the street. "Yeah, thanks." Delainey said. "Get on the other side and push, please." She said, pulling the bed behind her.

Vic pushed the bed and they got to the hotel shortly. "Hey Buddy!" Delainey shouted. "Yeah Dell-OW!" Buddy exclaimed, bumping his head on the counter. "You okay?" Delainey asked. "Yeah, I'm fine." Buddy said, rubbing his head, then looked at the bed, then Delainey. Delainey smiled. "Is that...for me?" Buddy asked. "Yeah. I knew you didn't have one, and it's a thank you, for the other day..." Delainey said. "Oh yeah, no problem." Buddy said with a smile. "And thanks." "You're welcome. Thanks Vic, for helping." Delainey said. Vic nodded then walked off. "Well, I gotta go, okay, Buddy?" Delainey asked. "Alright, I'll see ya later." Buddy said, hugging Delainey then going back to work.


End file.
